The present invention relates to supports and particularly to scaffolding for supporting one or more rooftop workers engaged in installing roofing materials such as roof shingles.
Slanted roofs are commonly used in construction of residential and in some commercial buildings with the roofs covered by shingling of one kind or another. During the course of installing or repairing shingles on such slanted roofs, workmen require supporting scaffolding that can be positioned and repositioned as work progresses.
The prior art reveals several patents disclosing roofworker support structures including U.S. Pat. No 5,908,083 which discloses a pair of peak adjustable elongate assemblies deployable independently in substantially parallel position. Each elongate assembly includes an overpeak member and an adjustment member for the overpeak member, as well as one or more crosspiece support members for supporting a crosspiece or plank. In this arrangement, the crosspiece support members are in fixed locations on the elongate assembly so that the plank must be repositioned on another set of cross piece support members as work progress along the roof surface. In addition, support structures lie on the roof so as to require movement of the support structures laterally along the roof surface for installation of shingles in the space occupied by the support structures.
U.S. Pat. No 5,624,006 discloses a support apparatus for use on an inclined roof consisting of a ladder which hooks at one end to the roof ridge and a support frame secured to the ladder. The ladder lies directly on the roof surface, and the entire assembly must be positioned and repositioned along the length and breadth of the roof to complete a roofing job.
U.S. Pat. No 3,842,934 discloses an apparatus for laying roofing materials on a sloping roof comprising spaced load supporting members each having a load supporting carriage. The spaced carriages support the ends of a plank extending across the roof surface. The carriages advance up the load supporting members by means of a conventional ratchet jack mechanism. The load supporting members are spaced above the roof surface. The supporting members and carriages appear as a relatively heavy and rigid assembly so as to maintain spacing of the support members above the roof without deflecting onto the surface under a workman's weight thereby impeding the laying of materials. The assembly of supporting members and carriages constitutes a bulky and heavy arrangement that must be hand carried up a ladder and pushed up along a roof incline into working position with one end over a ridge peak. In addition, the design is also limited by a relatively slow dual jacking action to advance a supporting plank up a roof incline.
There is need for a lightweight, easy to place roof supporting structure spaced from the roof surface to allow for laying of material under the support, with means for mounting a workman's plank that can quickly move upward along the roof surface, and with a safety block plate for securing the workman's plank in any desired position on the roof incline. There is need to provide spacers beneath the support structure so that light weight support components can be used without deflection under a workman.